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Bottle of the Bound
Bottle of the Bound Advanced Player's Guide Slot: — Aura: Strong abjuration Caster Level: 20th Weight: 4 lbs. Swirling runes reminiscent of claws and flames circle this elegant but ancient-looking brass bottle, and a stopper shaped like a ferocious tiger seals it tightly. The Bottle of the Bound is an ancient brass bottle with a narrow neck and a rounded belly, slightly flattened on the bottom so it stands upright when resting on a table. The bottle's tight-fitting stopper is engraved with sigils of binding and sealed with lead. Legends say a wizard of tremendous power and wisdom enchanted a fiendish army and trapped it within the bottle for all time. The Legion of the Bound may be called forth from the bottle by its wielder and forced to serve, as they were once commanded to build a fantastic ancient city, long since buried beneath the dust of the ages. But the bottle endures, its inhabitants still bound. A would-be wielder of the Bottle of the Bound must know three secret commands: the Word of Opening, to unseal the bottle so the stopper can be removed; the Word of Binding, to call forth and command its denizens; and the Word of Banishment, to return the Bound Ones to the bottle. A holder who knows the words may use the bottle like a summon monster IX spell at will, except only creatures of the evil subtype can be summoned. The summoned creatures remain until the sun next rises or sets, and no new creatures can be summoned from the bottle until the initial summoned creatures' destruction or return. No known force can open the bottle without the Word of Opening. If the bottle is opened without the use of the Word of Binding, its 666 inhabitants are freed, one each minute starting from 1st-level creatures and moving on to higherlevel ones, until they all escape. If one of the Bound is called forth and commanded without the Word of Banishment being uttered, it is free after it performs the task for which it was summoned. The Words to use the Bottle of the Bound have been lost for uncounted years, although some sages believe they know at least one or two of them. Destruction The Bottle of the Bound can be destroyed only if every creature bound within is slain or banished, and the empty container is then smashed with a holy weapon. History At the height of his power, Osirion's Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues came to believe he'd discovered a trap that might channel the power of a godlike entity into his own mortal form. To test his theory, he dedicated years and the lives of innumerable slaves to the construction of a labyrinth near the city of Shiman-Sekh. The maze itself was a potent symbol of binding, and for his experiment, he targeted the daemonic harbinger Zelishkar, known as the Bitter Flame. The pharaoh's attempt was a catastrophe. His wards, apprentices, guardians, and greatest magical devices quickly succumbed to Zelishkar's assault. After a lengthy struggle with the daemon, the pharaoh only managed to turn the tide by releasing an ancient efreeti bound by the hand of Sulesh the Great, promising it freedom and more to support him in a last desperate wish to lock the daemon away. Together, the great wizard and a summoned army of genies used their great wishcraft to bind Zelishkar and the 666 fiends rampaging through the labyrinth into the efreeti's former prison. In a torrent of flames, the daemonic harbinger and his army rushed into the bottle and the genies vanished to begin their wait for their promised reward. The Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues alone stood amid a ruin of shattered bodies and broken magic, not victorious, but having survived. For the rest of his lengthy rule, the Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues remained wary of his prisoner and loathed to touch what was dubbed the Bottle of the Bound. The bottle long remained a weapon of Ancient Osirion's pharaohs, though its prisoners were temporarily released at the hands of the Incorruptible Pharaoh. Since then, the Bottle of the Bound has supposedly rested within the Labyrinth of Shiman-Sekh; some claim it was pilfered in recent decades, however, and sold for an emperor's ransom in red gemstones. Ramifications Those seeking the Bottle of the Bound should know what danger they pursue. Legion of the Bound: 666 fiends are locked within the Bottle of the Bound. While some are mere peons and foot soldiers in Zelishkar's legions, or prisoners pressed into the harbinger's service, some of the other villains locked within include the conjoined quasits Ivixstayn and Loiix; the venedaemon (Horsemen of the Apocalypse) Lomotho; the erinyes Veil; an eremite kyton (Bestiary 3) known as the Splinter Spinster; and the obcisidaemon (Horsemen of the Apocalypse) Tascracraid and his scepter, which holds the soul of the Azlanti sage Opono. The Promised Flames: Whatever the Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues promised his efreeti benefactor to enlist his and his people's aid so swiftly has been lost to the ages. However, one hint might remain in a chamber in the Labyrinth of Shiman- Sekh, which holds a massive ruby brazier, an image of what appears to be a pharaoh entombed in a sarcophagus of fire, and hieroglyphics that refer to the Time of Promised Flames. The Words: Three words are required to safely utilize the Bottle of the Bound. Although the words themselves have been lost, some arcanists believe they are actually three names spoken in Ancient the true name of The Binder, the name of the efreeti who aided in binding him, and the birth name of the